Ten Ways To NOT Take Care of Yourself During the Holidays

It’s not like the rest of the year isn’t busy, but the holidays can become quite the microcosm of what our life can look like under even more pressure. Since that’s the case, I thought we could all use a little tongue-in-cheek about the topic…

1. Be Unrealistic. Accepting reality means we aren’t doing wishful thinking, seeing what you want to see instead of seeing what’s really there. This can be a setup for disappointment, frustration, and lots of stress. Better to stick with your feelings around all of this and get honest was what you think is actually possible and what you can accept.
2. Don’t Set Boundaries. Don’t say no anything that doesn’t work for you right now say yes to everything including things you don’t want to say yes, but you’re afraid to say no ’cause that would make you an awful person. don’t shut down with yourself either so therefore you know financial budget or budgeting of your time and energy. You’re sure to be frustrated and depleted before long, and the very people you want to have joyful moments with are going to have to deal with your frustration.
3. Go for perfect. You know, the decorated home, the best gifts for everyone and the unburnt cookies that turn out, well, perfectly every time. Don’t dare settle for having fun decorating misshaped cookies with the kids that are overloaded with sprinkles. And please don’t actually enjoy doing any of the above, because everything didn’t go according to your plan.
4. Don’t Be Proactive and Don’t Plan. Just become the firefighter putting out fires, reacting to everyone and everything and becoming exhausted. Just let stuff happen, and let the chaos reign.  That way you have to be stressed out trying to manage it all, while being frustrated and tired. Especially when you don’t factor in things that could go wrong, or taken care of ahead of time.  That way you can just feel beat up by life and be so confused how all this could happen…
5. Put Everyone Else’s Needs Before Your Own. Focus so hard on doing for them, while the things you need to get done suffer, or you don’t get any breaks or the chance to feel nurtured yourself. This way you can feel miserable and probably end up acting out – or your body acting out with illness or injury – so you then HAVE to stop and take care of yourself. That’s the best way. Amiright?
6. Be Out of Touch with Your Feelings. Don’t take moments to recognize, label and honor what you are feeling in this moment. Especially if they happen to be difficult or conflicting ones.  Let others dictate how you “should” feel about something.
7. Disconnect From Your Body. Don’t pay attention to it when it tries to tell you it’s tired, it’s tense, it has a headache.  Or when it really needs to rest and rejuvenate.  Don’t listen to the quiet ask it does for a hug or for some comfort.  Our bodies address the reality often before we are ready to.
8. Don’t Grab Accountability or Support. Instead, forge ahead in isolation without anyone looking in on what’s going on in your life. That way you can keep learning difficult lessons the hard way without anyone to hold you accountable to what you said you wanted different.
9. Don’t Own Your Choices. Instead, blame others and focus on what you “have” to do or be, or what a victim you are of circumstances flying out of nowhere that nothing to do at all with what you have chosen along the way.
10. Be Vague About All of This. Just say “I’m just so overwhelmed and stressed out” like it’s a proud badge to where, and that you have no clue as to why that is.  This way you won’t have to take any responsibility for it all.

Well, there you have it.  Ten ways that will absolutely ensure that you will NOT be taking good care of yourself this holiday season.  I hope, that through the wit and sarcasm you’ve come away with how serious this can be, and yet how we can easily be oblivious to it all.

So now, go take good care of you.